Co-defendants sent to prison after stealing $5,000 in tobacco products

NORWICH – The last of two co-defendants caught in a gas station burglary pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than $5,000 in tobacco products and cash.

The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested 32-year-old parolee Robert E. Straight of Plymouth and 30-year-old Douglas J. Wilkinson of Norwich after finding them hiding in a wooded area near the scene of the crime on Aug. 15.

The men broke into a gas station and were seen leaving the store by a passing motorist, prompting a police search of the area.

Judge W. Howard Sullivan accepted plea arrangements for Straight in two separate cases last week. For the gas station break-in, Straight pleaded guilty to third degree burglary and will be sentenced to two and a half to five years in state prison as part of a plea deal with the DA’s Office.